Dehumidifying apparatus



Dec. 14, 1943. F. o ANDEREGG DEHUMIDIFYING APPARATUS Filed June 26, 1941\NVENTOR Patented Dec. 14, 1943 nnnommrrme APPARATUS Frederick 0.Anderegg, Newark, Ohio, assignor to John B. Pierce Foundation, New York,N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 26, 1941, Serial N...399,793

3 Claims.

This invention relates to dehumidifying means whereby air or othergasesiare relieved of moisture content. e

A primary object of the invention is the provision for rapid, andsubstantially complete, continuous dehumidification in a simple andinexpensive manner.

Another object is the provision for continuous regeneration of thematerial used as a dehumidifying agent.

An outstanding novel feature in the accomplishment of the above recitedobjects, resides in the use of highly pervious, dehumidifying materialas a wall between a flow of air, or other gas to be dehumidified, and aflow of heated air, or other gas acting as a regenerative medium. Thetwo flows, in contact with opposite faces of the dehumidifying wall, arepreferably in counter directions to enhance th respective actionsthereof.

Another feature resides in the provision of cooling means, such as acoil through which water circulates, for absorbing the latent heat ofvaporization set free by condensation of the moisturein the air or othergas being dehumidified.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 represents a vertical section taken centrallythrough a preferred embodiment of the invention, the midportion beingillustrated'partly in elevation; and

Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Dehumidification pursuant to the invention is IU of highly porousdehumidifying material is set into a cylindrical housing II, which maybe conveniently formed from sheet metal. The tube I 0 extendslongitudinally through the housing I I, passing through alignedreceiving apertures preferably formed centrally of opposite end platesl2 and i3 of the housing. Flange collars In and Ba may be struck fromthe respective end plates, circumferentially of the respective receivingapertures, for anchoring the tube ID in position.

The housing ll forms a chamber i4 completely surrounding the greaterportion of the length of the tube l0. Through this chamber the air orother gas to be dehumidified is passed. For this purpose, a supplyconduit l5 leads into the top of the housing il through a suitablereceiving aperture provided in the upper end plate l2 to one side of theaperture through which the tube I 0 extends. The supply conduit I5 isconnected to the source of the air or other gas to be dehumidified (notshown), and, if found desirable in any particular instance, aconventional type of blower may be utilized to induce a positive flowthrough such supply conduit toward the chamber I 4.

A discharge conduit l6 leads from the bottom of the housing It through asuitable receiving aperture provided in the lower end plate i3,preferably at a side of the housing II which is oppoof highly perviousdehumidifying material so that a maximum effective dehumidifying surfacearea is had.

It is preferred that the dehumidifying material employed be thatdisclosed and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No.157,136-fi1ed August 3, 1937, and entitled Dehumidifying material, nowU. S. Patent No. 2,255,041. Such material may be molded int desiredshape in its formative stage. It is extremely porous throughout, andtheindividual pores thereof intercom- -municate so that distribution ofabsorbed moisture, and passage thereof through the body of the material,is facilitated. Further, the body of the material is rendered chemicallyhygroscopic by reason of a calcium chlorine constituent.

While the above specified dehumidifying material is particularlyadvantageous because of its peculiar characteristics, other perviousmaterials may be successfully used.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated, a tube site that into which thesupply conduit 15 directly leads. l

Heated, relatively dry air or other gas is passed upwardly through thetube iii. For supplying the same, a gas burner I! may be disposed at thelower end of the tube It) so that air heated thereby will pass upwardlythrough the hollow interior of tube H), as lna chimney. The heated,relatively dry air or other gas-may be supplied in any other suitablemanner, however, as for instance by connecting a conduit, leading fromany suitable source of the heated, relatively dry air or othergas, tothe bottom end of the tube In. The spent heated air or other gas maypass-freely out of the top of the tube i0 after traversing the lengththereof, or, if desired, discharge piping (not shown) may be connectedto the upper end of the tube l0.

Air or other gas to be dehuinidified is supplied to the interior of thecasing ll through the supply conduit l5, and is withdrawn therefromthrough discharge conduit l6. In its consequent downward flow throughthe chamber H, such air or other gas to be dehumidified passes over theoutside wall surface of the dehumidifying tube i0, in intimate contacttherewith, and gives up its moisture content to that wall surface. Theheated air or other gas flows upwardly within the tube l0, passing overthe inside wall surface of the dehumidifying tube l0, and by reason ofits dry character, vaporizes and carries off moisture from such insidewall surface. Because the entire body of the wall of tube: is perviousto moisture, the flow of heated air or other gas continuously andeifectively regenerates the dehumidifying outer surface of the wall oftube [0.

Means for absorbing the latent heat of vaporization released adjacentthe dehumidifying outer walls of the tube I0, may be provided in theform of a coiled pipe 18, advantageously of copper, and forming acomponent part of a circulation system of any desired type (not shown)whereby water, or other cooling fluid, is circulated continuouslythrough the piping.

The specifically illustrated and described embodiment represents a veryadvantageous practical utilization of'the generic concepts of theinvention. It should be realized, however, that many changes may be madein such embodiment and many other embodiments may be made by of theother oi said channels; a source of heated gas in communication withsaid last named inlet; and a heat transfer element disposed in contactwith the face of said wall open to the first named channel to remove thelatent heat of condensation.

2. Dehumidifying apparatus comprising a relatively long pervious tube ofdehumidifying material; means forming an enclosed chamber aboutsubstantially the length of said-tube; an inlet and an outlet forpassing air, or other gas to be dehumidifled, through said chamber andin intimate contact with the outside face of said tube, an inlet, anoutlet, and a source of heated gas in communication with said inlet forpassing relatively dry heated gas through said tube in intimate contactwith the inside face of said tube; and a cooling element disposed aboutthe outer wall of said tube in heat exchange relationship therewith.

3. Dehumidifying means comprising a chamber having an inlet and anoutlet; an open-ended tube of pervious water absorbtive materialdisposed within said chamber; an inlet and an outlet for passing air orother gas to be dehumidified through said chamber in intimate contactwith the outer surface of said tube over substantially

